Joe Vitale (ice hockey)
Joe Vitale ( born August 20, 1985 in St. Louis, Missouri ) is an American professional ice hockey player standing since 2009 with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the National Hockey League under contract on their farm team in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.
Career
Joe Vitale began his career as a hockey player with the Sioux Falls Stampede, where he was active in the Junior League United States Hockey League in the season 2004/ 05. He was then selected in the NHL Entry Draft in the seventh round in 2005 when a total of 195 players from the Pittsburgh Penguins. First, however, he attended for four years Northeastern University, for their hockey team he played in parallel in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. In his last year of university, he was voted the best defensive forward of the Hockey East as well as from all over New England. Then gave the Center towards the end of the 2008/09 season his debut in the American Hockey League for Pittsburgh's farm team Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He spent the following season exclusively with Pittsburgh's AHL farm team.
After Vitale began the 2010/11 season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the AHL, he was for Pittsburgh on 10 February 2011 at the home game against the Los Angeles Kings made his debut in the National Hockey League. By the end of February, he came in a total of nine games, each a goal and an assist in the NHL. He was then released back to the AHL farm team.
Awards and achievements
- 2009 Hockey East Best Defensive Forward
- 2009 NCAA Best Defensive Forward
Career Stats
( Key to Career statistics: Sp or GP = Games Played, T or G = goals scored, V or A = achieved assists; Pts or Pts = scored points scorer, SM or PIM = received penalty minutes, / - = Plus / Minus balance sheet; PP = scored majority gates; SH = scored shorthanded goals, GW = achieved victory gates; Play-downs/Relegation 1 )